Pop sensation Mariah Carey announced through her publicist today that she will not be returning as a judge “American Idol” next year. Instead, she is planning to embark on her world tour.
According to Hollywood Life, public relations firm PMK BNC tweeted today “W/ global success of “ #Beautiful” (#1 in 30+ countries so far) @MariahCarey confirms world tour & says goodbye 2 Idol.” This was re-tweeted by Carey herself later, solidifying her departure.
As the tweet explains, Carey is planning to tour in efforts to promote her recent single "Beautiful" that features singer Miguel. Fox may be losing a superstar, but even she could not bump up ratings for the show and they continued to slide, reaching a record low audience of 14.2 million the season finale on May 16 according to Reuters.
Even co-judges Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, along with long time judge Randy Jackson failed to keep ratings from falling. Jackson, also leaving “American Idol,” may hurt the show even worse, but Fox may have a new tactic for next years selections, including rumors about former “Idol” stars such as Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert, and Kelly Clarkson.
According to The Washington Post, Fox network and “American Idol” production house FremantleMedia responded to the confirmation tweet of Carey’s depature by stating, “Mariah Carey is a true global icon — one of the most accomplished artists on the planet — and we feel extremely fortunate that she was able to bring her wisdom and experience to the ‘American Idol’ contestants this season.” The network will find out next year if her replacement judge can boost the ratings that have been slipping for so long.